The Vancouver Canucks season opening at home against the Edmonton Oilers is a nice change. It’s followed by a ten-day, five-city road trip, though. And, uh, no pressure, guys, but it sounds like Elias Pettersson is going to see how the season goes before signing an extension.
Canucks Season Opening Means Everything
Every team has quirks in their schedule, certainly. On Vancouver’s part, the insistence seems to be a hard start in exchange for lighter travel later. Continent-spanning road trips happening before the season is ten games old is standard operating procedure.
The benefit, of course, is a home-dominated schedule come February and March. Just enough time for fans who spent the last two months looking over draft slots to watch their high-pick hopes fade. It’s also, some may note, shortly before the trade deadline.
But that’s not the only odd streak for the Canucks of late:
- 2019-20 opener: In Edmonton, 3-2 loss
- 2020-21 opener: In Edmonton, 3-5 win
- 2021-22 opener: In Edmonton, 3-2 loss
- 2022-23 opener: In Edmonton, 5-3 loss
But this season is a change from the usual! THIS time, they open at home! Against the Edmonton Oilers, followed by a five-game road trip that includes Florida, Philadelphia, and Nashville. Oh, and it opens in Edmonton.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Step By Step
One has to admire the confidence a team needs to ask for the same schedule, year after year. You can see what they hope for – break even on the road-heavy portion, win more at home. Take advantage later, build momentum at home for the playoffs. Right?
Well, let’s see.
2019-20 Canucks Opener, 3-2 Loss
All right, that didn’t start out great. But the team soon righted course and finished up October with an 8-3-1 record. That included a four-game trip to the East Coast, so things were looking good!
It got weird for everyone, of course, with COVID-19 hitting and professional sports shutting down briefly. By the time that happened, the team had lost their playoff position and needed a play-in round to reach the playoffs in the Rogers Place “bubble.”
Without the bubbly weirdness, would the Canucks have made the playoffs? Maybe, maybe not. They went 7-9-2 after January and were officially on the outside looking in with 23 games to go. Saved by the Bubble.
2020-21 Canucks Opener, 3-5 Win
Speaking of strange, beginning the NHL season in January certainly qualifies. The Canadian-only Northern Division was a nightmare for Vancouver. If it wasn’t for the Ottawa Senators coming to Vancouver, the Canucks would have started 5-14-2.
And Ottawa got their revenge later in the year. They took three games from the Canucks to guarantee Vancouver’s bottom-place finish in the division. Needless to say, the playoffs were right out.
A disaster right from Day Two, as their season-opening road trip went 1-3 and was rapidly downhill from there. On the plus side, at least there weren’t any fans around to see it.
2021-22 Canucks Opener, 3-2 Loss
This time out, the six-game road trip kicked off the year. The team did reasonably well, too, going 3-2-1 before coming home for seven straight. Naturally, they got the home stand going with three straight losses, finishing 2-4-1.
Not that it has any possible relevance today, but Pettersson had just completed a difficult negotiation with the team. That ordeal carried its effect into the season and he had a miserable start to the year.
By the end of December, Pettersson had six goals and 17 points in 33 games. January was marginally better with five goals and seven points in 12 games that month. Most observers think that, as much as anything else, doomed head coach Travis Green.
2022-23 Canucks Opener, 5-3 Loss
BRUCE! There it is! Except, no. What optimism Bruce Boudreau‘s record caused – and there was plenty – dissipated quickly. Opening night included a 3-0 lead against a frustrated division rival. The final score says it all, and it got no better.
Again, the opening game was a road trip East, including against four supposedly weak teams. The Canucks went winless, getting just two points of a possible ten. Their first game back was a 5-1 loss, which didn’t help.
In fact, the Canucks needed to go to Seattle to get their first of the season before coming home to finally win against the Penguins. An injured, and probably overused, Thatcher Demko spelled the end for Boudreau’s fun, attack-heavy style.
Canucks Opening Season at Home Means…
Well, we don’t really know yet. There is an advantage to the home team selecting who is on the ice against whom, so that’s something. Actually, it might well be key to an improved penalty kill, given their acquisitions. Lord knows it can’t get worse.
The team has a far more balanced schedule than their usual this time out. An even split of games at home and on the road as the calendar flips over to 2024: 18 of each.
A pivotal, seven-game trip hits them early that month. If they can get out of it anything close to .500, then they have a solid chance of making the playoffs. And if they don’t, maybe they can gain ground in March where they have a nine-game homestand.
Yep.
Nine games at home at the end of March. With this season’s trade deadline being the very first day of March. Leaving the team doing… what exactly if they’re in the mix for a wild card slot?
The Vancouver Canucks season-opening game against Edmonton will carry all its own pressures. But the five road games after that will go a long way to determining the season. And maybe beyond.
Main Photo Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
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